[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 232 (Thursday, December 3, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 66816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32198]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; FY 1999 Community 
Policing Discretionary Grants

AGENCY: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Department of 
Justice.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services (``COPS'') announces a new grant program, COPS in 
Schools, designed to combat school violence by helping local law 
enforcement agencies hire community policing officers to work in 
schools. This program provides an incentive for law enforcement 
agencies to build working relationships with schools and to use 
community policing efforts to combat school violence. The COPS in 
Schools program will help reduce the local match requirement for local 
law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional new officers to be 
used in or around schools.

DATES: Use the Universal Hiring Program application to apply for COPS 
in Schools grants. The application deadlines are December 4, 1998, 
February 5, April 2, June 4 and July 16, 1999. If your agency already 
was awarded a FAST, AHEAD or UHP grant, you may request additional 
officers at any time. Note on your application if you are requesting 
officers that will be assigned to primary or secondary schools.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of an application or for more information, 
please call the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 1-800-
421-6770 or (202) 307-1480, or visit the COPS web site at http://
www.usdoj.gov/cops/.

    Departments that have a pending application under the Universal 
Hiring Program that are interested in applying that request to the COPS 
in Schools initiative should contact their grant advisor at 1-800-421-
6770.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
The U.S. Department of Justice Response Center, (202) 307-1480 or 1-
800-421-6770 or your grant advisor.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview

    The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 
103-322) authorizes the Department of Justice to make grants to 
increase deployment of law enforcement officers devoted to community 
policing on the streets and rural routes in this nation. The COPS in 
Schools program is specifically designed to combat school violence.
    Many communities are discovering that trained, sworn Law 
enforcement officers assigned to schools make a difference. The 
presence of these officers provide schools with on-site security and a 
direct link to local law enforcement agencies.
    Community policing officers typically perform a variety of 
functions within the school including, teaching crime prevention and 
substance-abuse classes, monitoring troubled students, and building 
respect for law enforcement among students. School Resource Officers 
combine the functions of law enforcement and education.
    To help hire community policing officers to work in schools, the 
COPS Office is offering up to $60 million to local law enforcement 
agencies. The COPS in Schools initiative provides an incentive for law 
enforcement agencies to build working relationships with schools to use 
community policing efforts to combat school violence.
    The COPS in Schools initiative reduces the local match requirement 
for law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional officers in and 
around schools.
    Grants will be awarded to provide for a designated portion of the 
salary and benefits of each new officer over three years. The maximum 
is $125,000 per officer; any remainder is paid with state or local 
funds. Funding begins when new officers are hired or on the award date 
(whichever is later). Funds are distributed over the course of the 
grant.
    COPS grants must not replace funds that eligible agencies otherwise 
would have devoted to hire officers in the future. In other words, any 
hiring under the COPS in Schools program must be in addition to, not in 
lieu of, officers that otherwise would have been hired. Grant 
recipients must develop a written plan to retain their COPS-funded 
officer positions after Federal funding ends. This plan must be 
submitted with the application.
    To be eligible to receive funding under this grant program, 
applicants must be eligible to receive funding under the current 
guidelines established for the Universal Hiring Program (UHP). UHP 
guidelines are available from the U.S. Department of Justice Response 
Center. Applicants must also provide assurance that the officers 
employed under this program will be assigned to work in primary or 
secondary schools and must enter into a partnership agreement with 
either a specific school official or with an official with general 
educational oversight authority in that jurisdiction.
    In addition to these general program requirements, agencies seeking 
funding under this program will be asked to provide supporting 
documentation in the following areas: problem identification and 
justification, community policing strategies to be used by the 
officers, quality and level of commitment to the effort, and the link 
to community policing.
    An award under the COPS in Schools grant program will not affect 
the eligibility of an agency to receive awards under any other COPS 
program.

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) reference for 
this program is 16.710.

    Dated: November 20, 1998.
Joseph E. Brann,
Director.
[FR Doc. 98-32198 Filed 12-2-98; 8:45 am]
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